is learned behavior that becomes unconscious and automatic over
time. For example, leaders can make several important decisions about
an issue in the time it takes others to understand the question.
Many
people wonder how leaders know how to make the best decisions, often
under immense pressure. The process of making these decisions comes
from an accumulation of experiences and encounters with a multitude of
difference circumstances, personality types and unforeseen failures.
More so, the decision making process is an acute understanding of being
familiar with the cause and effect of behavioral and circumstantial
patterns; knowing the intelligence and interconnection points of the
variables involved in these patterns allows a leader to confidently make
decisions and project the probability of their desired outcomes.
The
most successful leaders are instinctual decision makers. Having done it
so many times throughout their careers, they become immune to the
pressure associated with decision making and extremely intuitive about
the process of making the most strategic and best decisions. This is why
most senior executives will tell you they depend strongly upon their
“gut-feel” when making difficult decisions at a moment’s notice.
Beyond decision making, successful leadership across all areas
becomes learned and instinctual over a period of time. Successful
leaders have learned the mastery of anticipating business patterns,
finding opportunities in pressure situations, serving the people they
lead and overcoming hardships. No wonder the best CEOs are paid so
much money. In 2011, salaries for the 200 top-paid CEOs rose 5 percent
to a median $14.5 million per year, according to a study by
compensation-data company Equilar for The New York Times.
If you are looking to advance your career into a leadership capacity
and / or already assume leadership responsibilities – here are 15 things
you must do automatically, every day, to be a successful leader in the
workplace:
1. Make Others Feel Safe to Speak-Up
Many times leaders intimidate their colleagues with their title and
power when they walk into a room. Successful leaders deflect attention
away from themselves and encourage others to voice their opinions.
They are experts at making others feel safe to speak-up and confidently share their perspectives and points of view. They use their executive presence to create an approachable environment.
2. Make Decisions
Successful leaders are expert decision makers. They either
facilitate the dialogue to empower their colleagues to reach a strategic
conclusion or they do it themselves. They focus on “making things
happen” at all times – decision making activities that sustain
progress. Successful leaders have mastered the art of politicking and
thus don’t waste their time on issues that disrupt momentum. They know how to make 30 decisions in 30 minutes.
3. Communicate Expectations
Successful leaders are great communicators, and this is especially
true when it comes to “performance expectations.” In doing so, they
remind their colleagues of the organization’s core values and mission
statement – ensuring that their vision is properly translated and
actionable objectives are properly executed.
I had a boss that managed the team by reminding us of the
expectations that she had of the group. She made it easy for the team
to stay focused and on track. The protocol she implemented – by clearly
communicating expectations – increased performance and helped to
identify those on the team that could not keep up with the standards she
expected from us.
4. Challenge People to Think
The most successful leaders understand their colleagues’ mindsets,
capabilities and areas for improvement. They use this knowledge/insight
to challenge their teams to think and stretch them to reach for more.
These types of leaders excel in keeping their people on their toes,
never allowing them to get comfortable and enabling them with the tools
to grow.
If you are not thinking, you’re not learning new things. If you’re
not learning, you’re not growing – and over time becoming irrelevant in
your work.
5. Be Accountable to Others
Successful leaders allow their colleagues to manage them. This
doesn’t mean they are allowing others to control them – but rather
becoming accountable to assure they are being proactive to their
colleagues needs.
Beyond just mentoring and sponsoring selected employees, being
accountable to others is a sign that your leader is focused more on your
success than just their own.
6. Lead by Example
Leading by example sounds easy, but few leaders are consistent with
this one. Successful leaders practice what they preach and are mindful
of their actions. They know everyone is watching them and therefore are
incredibly intuitive about detecting those who are observing their
every move, waiting to detect a performance shortfall.
7. Measure & Reward Performance
Great leaders always have a strong “pulse” on business performance
and those people who are the performance champions. Not only do they
review the numbers and measure performance ROI, they are active in
acknowledging hard work and efforts (no matter the result).
Successful leaders never take consistent performers for granted and are
mindful of rewarding them.
Read the rest of the list here... http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2013/02/18/the-most-successful-leaders-do-15-things-automatically-every-day/
Monday, July 22, 2013
Thursday, July 18, 2013
8 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Business From Home Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224875#ixzz2ZPmOAuHo
Launching a business from home can provide tremendous flexibility and the kind of work-life balance that we all crave. But the reality is that home businesses
bring their own set of challenges, says Caroline Daniels, lecturer for
entrepreneurship and technology at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass.
For example, "doing your business on your own from home can get stale.
It's hard to keep feeding the imagination all on your own."
Here are eight mistakes to avoid when starting a business from home:
Spending Too Much Time at Home: Loneliness is the number one complaint from people who work at home, says Anne Alexander, a small-business coach in Brevard, N.C. "Many people are not prepared for the isolated working environment." While it may seem easier to do everything virtually, that isn't the best approach. Instead, take time away from your home office for face-to-face meetings that will help build your business. Plan lunch dates, attend networking groups or work from coffee shops to build a social element into your day, Alexander says
Keeping a 24-7 Work Schedule: When Leon Oks co-founded iCanvasART, an online seller of custom canvases, he and several employees spent day and night working from his dining room. It's a recipe for burnout. "You're feeling guilty that you're not working, and there's no disconnect," Oks says. Eventually, he asked employees to leave by 6 p.m. and made sure to schedule free time into his day. But this year, he moved his Niles, Ill.-based company to an office space because the growing business was becoming difficult to manage at home.
Related: Simple Time Management Tips When You're Overwhelmed
Allowing Interruptions: Without a boss breathing down your neck, it's easy to take a phone call or two from family and friends. But when you're constantly in "interrupt mode," it hurts your business focus, Daniels says. To combat disruptions, she recommends setting aside blocks of quiet time throughout the day when you don't allow phone calls or email alerts. You also need to be careful about getting pulled too often into distracting chores like laundry or childcare. Remind family members and babysitters of your work hours and explain you'll be answering only urgent requests.
Depending Too Much on Loved Ones: Without coworkers around, you can easily fall into a habit of talking out your business problems with your spouse or friends. But loved ones may get weary of talking about your business. What's more, they may not provide the best advice because they don't always understand your business, Alexander says. So, try to connect with others in your field to develop an informal network of advisors. "Build a mastermind group of others with home-based businesses," Alexander suggests.
Related: How to Stop Over Thinking and Get Things Done
Failing to Create a Separate Work Area: Even if you don't live in a huge home, set aside a space reserved almost entirely for work. Opt for a little-used room or even an empty corner of your living area to create a physical divide between work and home. If you must work in a common area of the house like the dining room or kitchen, put away personal objects to set a professional tone for the day, Daniels says. "Even if you don't have a separate space, you can create it."
Letting Employees Abuse Your Home: You risk damage to your home if you don't establish rules for how employees should behave there. For example, Oks got stressed out over how his workers would eat lunch in his living room, walk on his light-colored carpet with their shoes on, and tack notes onto the walls. Instead of scolding employees later, it's better to set expectations from the get go, Oks says. "Set up rules you're comfortable with." Oks began asking employees to take off their shoes and clean off their workspace at the end of the day so he could use his dining room table each evening.
Related: To Do More, First Slow Down
Getting too Busy to Stay Organized: As work piles up, it's easy to let organization slide, says Tata Harper, who started an eponymous skincare line at her home in Shoreham, Vt. "It is easy to succumb to disorganization when you are working in the same place that you live since it is a private space that you don't often share with" coworkers or other visitors, she says. Harper files papers away before they pile up and stores only business-related items there. In addition, she finds that decorating and brightly lighting her office motivates her to keep it clean.
Starting the Day Without a Plan: "Without conscious decisions about how to spend your time, your day can slip away without much to show for it," says Elaine Quinn, Chicago-based author of There's No Place Like Working From Home (Calloran Publishing, July 2011). Instead, give time to both short-term actions and long-term goals so you run your business in a more balanced manner. Create a schedule and stick to it. "Rather than making to-do lists, enter tasks directly into your [daily] planner," which allows you to set a specific deadline for completing each task, Quinn says. Also, make sure you leave unscheduled time in the day to deal with important but unexpected issues that crop up.
Here are eight mistakes to avoid when starting a business from home:
Spending Too Much Time at Home: Loneliness is the number one complaint from people who work at home, says Anne Alexander, a small-business coach in Brevard, N.C. "Many people are not prepared for the isolated working environment." While it may seem easier to do everything virtually, that isn't the best approach. Instead, take time away from your home office for face-to-face meetings that will help build your business. Plan lunch dates, attend networking groups or work from coffee shops to build a social element into your day, Alexander says
Keeping a 24-7 Work Schedule: When Leon Oks co-founded iCanvasART, an online seller of custom canvases, he and several employees spent day and night working from his dining room. It's a recipe for burnout. "You're feeling guilty that you're not working, and there's no disconnect," Oks says. Eventually, he asked employees to leave by 6 p.m. and made sure to schedule free time into his day. But this year, he moved his Niles, Ill.-based company to an office space because the growing business was becoming difficult to manage at home.
Related: Simple Time Management Tips When You're Overwhelmed
Allowing Interruptions: Without a boss breathing down your neck, it's easy to take a phone call or two from family and friends. But when you're constantly in "interrupt mode," it hurts your business focus, Daniels says. To combat disruptions, she recommends setting aside blocks of quiet time throughout the day when you don't allow phone calls or email alerts. You also need to be careful about getting pulled too often into distracting chores like laundry or childcare. Remind family members and babysitters of your work hours and explain you'll be answering only urgent requests.
Depending Too Much on Loved Ones: Without coworkers around, you can easily fall into a habit of talking out your business problems with your spouse or friends. But loved ones may get weary of talking about your business. What's more, they may not provide the best advice because they don't always understand your business, Alexander says. So, try to connect with others in your field to develop an informal network of advisors. "Build a mastermind group of others with home-based businesses," Alexander suggests.
Related: How to Stop Over Thinking and Get Things Done
Failing to Create a Separate Work Area: Even if you don't live in a huge home, set aside a space reserved almost entirely for work. Opt for a little-used room or even an empty corner of your living area to create a physical divide between work and home. If you must work in a common area of the house like the dining room or kitchen, put away personal objects to set a professional tone for the day, Daniels says. "Even if you don't have a separate space, you can create it."
Letting Employees Abuse Your Home: You risk damage to your home if you don't establish rules for how employees should behave there. For example, Oks got stressed out over how his workers would eat lunch in his living room, walk on his light-colored carpet with their shoes on, and tack notes onto the walls. Instead of scolding employees later, it's better to set expectations from the get go, Oks says. "Set up rules you're comfortable with." Oks began asking employees to take off their shoes and clean off their workspace at the end of the day so he could use his dining room table each evening.
Related: To Do More, First Slow Down
Getting too Busy to Stay Organized: As work piles up, it's easy to let organization slide, says Tata Harper, who started an eponymous skincare line at her home in Shoreham, Vt. "It is easy to succumb to disorganization when you are working in the same place that you live since it is a private space that you don't often share with" coworkers or other visitors, she says. Harper files papers away before they pile up and stores only business-related items there. In addition, she finds that decorating and brightly lighting her office motivates her to keep it clean.
Starting the Day Without a Plan: "Without conscious decisions about how to spend your time, your day can slip away without much to show for it," says Elaine Quinn, Chicago-based author of There's No Place Like Working From Home (Calloran Publishing, July 2011). Instead, give time to both short-term actions and long-term goals so you run your business in a more balanced manner. Create a schedule and stick to it. "Rather than making to-do lists, enter tasks directly into your [daily] planner," which allows you to set a specific deadline for completing each task, Quinn says. Also, make sure you leave unscheduled time in the day to deal with important but unexpected issues that crop up.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Use LGT Tools-Great For Business Building
I have been away from here for a while! As loyal readers, you deserve an explanation. I have been busy organizing, and learning to use the tools I already have at my disposal. I have had a bit of a cash crunch lately, and have been writing a lot of articles over on www.textbroker.com. Great site, reliable pay. Not only am I earning enough to help pay some bills, I am gaining a lot of practice and experience writing on many different subjects.
In between that, I have been slowly going through all the tools, programs and stuff I have signed up for over the last few years. Cleaning house and refocusing my business advertising efforts.
I signed up with Lead Generating Tools and Training in 2009. I just happened to stumble into a coaching room through my F5M-MC account. I ended up meeting some really great people. Steve, Debra, Brenda, Jim, Sharon and Stacey, were all there to help me learn what I needed to do to get started. I hung around for a while, learned to use a few tools, and went off to "do my own thing" for a while. I jumped around from this to that and that to this. Really, Google me. I am every where.
Since 2009, I have been in and out of our coaching room, mostly to get some encouragement, they always deliver!
This last time I popped into the room, Debra calls it our sand box, ;) I got in on the beginning of a great new launch from LGT. Our new LGT Business Builder. This is not just another downline builder, there are tons of those. We wanted to be different. Sure, we all have different businesses, products or services that we are successful at, but we didn't do it over night. It took a lot of trial and error to learn to advertise our businesses, and make real income on the internet.
We put together a list of resources perfect for anyone wanting to give up their day job and start to earn an income, without spending a single dime. We really do not want you to spend the money you need to keep your house! We just want to show you how to get earning.
This is NOT an easy business. I swear it will cause adult ADHD! (just kidding) but there are a lot of things you can get into online. There are so many different ways to advertise and draw the right attention to your products and services. LGT Business Builder will take you step by step, 1 account at a time, and show you how to really earn an online income.
Friday, March 15, 2013
CashBlurbs User Review
CashBlurbs
I joined CashBlurbs some time ago, recently, while posting my ads for the week, I ran across it again. I should have been doing this every day to give a true how it works user review.
Yesterday, I posted a few ads, really only took a little while, and it was fairly easy to do.
CashBlurbs is a free program, but they do offer an upgraded version. The way it works is really quite simple, share a fellow members ad, view a few to highlight your post, and post your ad. There is a character limit, so be careful that all your ad is showing. I made the mistake of posting ads that were too long and my links did not show right. Perhaps a bitly link would help.
Today I will post all 10 ads that free members are allowed and report back in the comments of this post.
Are you a member of CashBlurbs? How do you like it?
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Design With SEO In Mind
Starting an internet based business? Are you an offline company wanting to take your advertising to the World Wide Web? A custom website could be just what you need to give your business a boost. Building a website is an excellent advertising venue for both online and offline business.
Some knowledge of SEO (search engine optimization) will help any business be seen on the internet. But what do you really need to know about SEO? That depends on how much you are going to do for yourself.
If you are hiring your site built by someone else, then you really only need to understand the concept, and what you can do to help the search engines find you.
Consistency and focus are keys to simple SEO. Consistently promote, share and build your online business presence around a few keywords or phrases. For example, if your business is water filters, concentrate on keywords and phrases that will draw the customer who is looking for water filters, or who may be concerned about drinking water quality.
To help your social SEO presence, share your knowledge on the subject. Share problems that occur when water is not filtered, keep your business social focused on water, its contaminants and solutions for reducing contamination.
Just insert your business service or product keywords and share, promote and discuss your way to great, easy SEO for your business.
Some knowledge of SEO (search engine optimization) will help any business be seen on the internet. But what do you really need to know about SEO? That depends on how much you are going to do for yourself.
If you are hiring your site built by someone else, then you really only need to understand the concept, and what you can do to help the search engines find you.
Consistency and focus are keys to simple SEO. Consistently promote, share and build your online business presence around a few keywords or phrases. For example, if your business is water filters, concentrate on keywords and phrases that will draw the customer who is looking for water filters, or who may be concerned about drinking water quality.
To help your social SEO presence, share your knowledge on the subject. Share problems that occur when water is not filtered, keep your business social focused on water, its contaminants and solutions for reducing contamination.
Just insert your business service or product keywords and share, promote and discuss your way to great, easy SEO for your business.
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